Transcript: Mayor de Blasio, First Lady McCray Deliver Remarks at Rally for New Paid Personal Time Legislation

May 28, 2019

First Lady Chirlane McCray: Thank you so much Gloria. New York City, we work hard don’t we? Who thinks they're a lot of New Yorkers who need a break? I do too. So many New Yorkers, especially women and immigrants, are in an impossible struggle for more time. For too long, no one has stood up for them. Too many employers don't care who burns out on the job, and they don't care about lost family time, but New Yorkers are not cogs in money making machines. Are they?

Audience: No.

First Lady McCray: No. Here's what I say. Working people are people with loved ones to celebrate and grieve, children to parent and working people are humans with the need to relax and recharge themselves, at least as much as we charge their cell phones, right? Their mental health matters. Their wellbeing matters. A health aide who spends her time, spends her life caring for others, deserves time to care for herself. A single mother pulling double shifts to pay for piano lessons deserves to see her child's shine at a recital. A restaurant worker sending half his check back home deserves time off to see his family again. Workers are human beings with full lives outside of the job they do every day and no one should be juggling it all without time off. So let me ask you New York City, are you ready to fight for working people?

Audience: Yes.

First Lady McCray: Will you fight for the time they earn and the dignity they deserve?

Audience: Yes.

First Lady McCray: Alright now. Now let's hear from our Mayor who's going to help us get this done

[Applause]

Mayor Bill de Blasio: Thank you Chirlane. Everybody, I want to say you heard the voice of our First Lady and she feels deeply because she's lived it. As a working mom she saw how much people have to balance and how hard it is. And there's so many people who don't get any time off at all, but she is fighting for every New Yorker, every American, they get what they deserve. Let's give our First Lady a round of applause.

[Applause]

I just have to say, being in the presence of Gloria Steinem, who is someone I have admired my entire life. Gloria, when you, when you join with us and when you say something's important and when you say something can and will happen, people listen because you've been there and you have been at the forefront of so many struggles for the dignity of working people, of women, for human rights in so many ways. And you’ve proven many a time when they say it can't be done, it's just a matter of time until it can be done. Let's thank Gloria for her leadership.

[Applause]

So brothers and sisters working people deserve a break. That is the bottom line. So I'm going to ask you, I know it's Monday morning, but we better get energized for a good cause here. So do you deserve a break?

Audience: Yes.

Mayor: Do you deserve time off for what really matters?

Audience: Yes.

Mayor: Do you deserve to rest and recharge and be there for the people you love?

Audience: Yes.

Mayor: You are right. And we're here to demand an economy that works for working people because what's happening right now is not working. Let's be clear. So many people are struggling to make ends meet. They're working one job, two jobs, three jobs. Just to make ends meet. They don't get time for themselves. They don't get time for their families. They don't have a quality of life worth all that effort. That's what's happening in richest country in the world. Well, we in New York City say it doesn't have to be that way and we're going to change it now, right?

Audience: Yes.

Mayor: All right. Now I want to thank everyone. Everyone who is a part of this effort because we're going to do something historic here. I want everyone understand the magnitude of this. We are the only industrialized nation on Earth that is not guaranteed working people time off. The only one on Earth. There is not yet a state or city in America that guarantees working people two weeks paid vacation. It does not exist in this country until now. Here in New York City we will set the pace for this nation right here.

[Applause]

I want to thank everyone who is here and support everyone is ready to fight this fight. I want to thank the members of my administration who are leading the way. Deputy Mayor Phil Thompson, Commissioner of the new Department of Consumer and Worker Protection, Commissioner Lorelei Salas, Executive Director for the Commission on Gender Equity, Jacqueline Ebanks. And I also want to thank – you are going to hear from some of my colleagues from elective office and from Labor who are in the forefront of this effort, but I also want to thank the organizations that are fighting this fight in every way. I want to thank A Better Balance. Is A Better Balance here?

[Applause]

I want to thank you. UNITE HERE Local 100.

[Applause]

I want to thank UAW Region 9A.

[Applause]

I want to thank Fast Food Justice.

[Applause]

I want to thank Make The Road.

[Applause]

And I want to thank ROC United. Are you here?

[Applause]

There you go. Everybody, I want you all to think about your own lives. I want you to think about those times when you were working hard and you didn't have enough time for what mattered. Because I think everybody here can think about that for yourselves and for your family members. How hard people work. And wherever I go in this city, wherever I go this country, I ask people, are you working longer hours than you used to? And almost every person says yes – working more and more, but not getting the reward for that work. That's what we see. And I talk about the situation that Chirlane and I found ourselves in when we were young parents and we both were working – so two jobs, two kids. And then my mom got sick and we moved her close to us so we can take care of her. And then right after that Chirlane’s mom got sick and we moved her close as well. So we had the two moms, just a block away from us, the two young kids, the two jobs, and we were trying to juggle all that. And I'll tell you, it was beautiful that our kids got to see their grandmas. That was a beautiful thing.

But for Chirlane and I, we were trying to make sense of it. We are part of what they call that sandwich generation, trying to keep it all together for everyone. Trying and take care of our moms, trying to take care of our kids, trying to be there at work and it got harder and harder. And I think almost everyone has their version of that story, of somehow trying to do right by the people you love and earn a paycheck and it feels like it makes less and less sense and it gets harder and harder all the time. That's what millions and millions of New Yorkers and millions and millions of Americans are experiencing.

Now, what does it mean that people are working harder and harder and what they get for that work is less and less time for themselves and more and more stress. It means their quality of life is getting worse, not better. It means their American dream isn't working and it means the laws of our nation aren't working for working people. So we have to do something about it. And we know from history and Gloria is a witness to this, the change comes from the grassroots, change comes from the people and we're going to start to change right here in New York. But I have to tell you why it's so urgent we do this here in New York, because there's new information has come out and when we originally started this effort, working with our colleagues in the City Council, working with the Public Advocate, you know, we knew hundreds of thousands of New Yorkers were working full time and didn't get a single day off in the year, but there's new data that's come out that's really studied this even more closely and now the number is even worse. There is now up to a million New Yorkers who are working, who are struggling to make ends meet and don't get a single day of paid vacation. One million New Yorkers – tell me something, is that wrong?

Audience: Yes.

Mayor: Is that wrong?

Audience: Yes.

Mayor: Do we have to change that?

Audience: Yes.

Mayor: We need to do it now and I also remind people, this didn't happen by accident. We have to be blunt about this fact. This is an agenda that's been foisted on all of us by corporate America and too often with the help of our federal government where working people get less and less, and the wealthy get more and more. Working people work harder and harder and they don't get their fair share back. People just want fairness. They want a fair day's pay for a hard day's work. They want some time for themselves and their family, but the way our country's going is literally the opposite direction. Harder and harder work for less and less. It is not sustainable. It's not going to work. We have to break this cycle. We have to challenge that corporate greed and break this cycle once and for all, and it's only going to happen by standing up and saying as a matter of law, that working people full time and part time deserve two weeks off every single year.

[Applause]

Now, I want to say this, get ready for the Doubting Thomases. Get ready for the naysayers. All of you get ready, the naysayers are coming. Brace yourselves. They will tell you, when we do this, the city will start to lose jobs. People will be laid off. The economy will go to hell. They will tell you this. I think some of my good friends in labor will attest. We heard that every single time we raised the minimum wage. Yeah, we heard that when we all did paid sick leave together, we heard that when we did the fair work week together, every time we heard the same refrain, it would hurt our economy and we would lose jobs. Well, guess what? We have more jobs in New York City than we've ever had in our history.

[Applause]

And then, you know, they'll tell you, well, this is taking us in this horrible direction. They’ll say it’s creeping socialism, my friends. Get ready, creeping socialism. So let me tell you about the countries that already provide at least two weeks off for working people. I'm going to give you the list just so you can feel the impact. Japan, Canada, Switzerland, Greece, the Netherlands, Australia, Ireland, New Zealand, Germany, Belgium, Italy, Spain, Portugal, Sweden, Finland, Denmark, Norway, Austria, the United Kingdom, and France. If they can do it, we can do it, right?

Audience: Yeah.

Mayor: So here's what I want to say in the end. This is about our government fighting for working people, not for big corporations. This is about putting working people first. This is what we need to do every single day because it hasn't been done enough. And the bottom line for working New Yorkers, you deserve dignity, you deserve respect and you deserve your lives back. You deserve a life that is worth living.

[Applause]

I’m going to say a few words in Spanish.

[Mayor de Blasio speaks in Spanish]

With that and I want to thank him for his leadership, the prime sponsor of the Paid Personal Time legislation. Someone was believed for a long time that when you do right by working people, it works for everyone and he is a strong, strong voice. My great pleasure to introduce our Public Advocate Jumaane Williams.

[Applause]

[…]

[Applause]

Mayor: You know, I thought you were shy at first –

[Laughter]

I think Maurina spoke a lot of truth, didn’t she? Let’s thank her again.

[Applause]

I want to make one last point because what Maurina said needs to hit home. There are millions and millions of folks who think that getting that paid time off is just a part of life – professional folks, folks who have done very well who would not even dream of the notion of never having a single paid vacation day. And I am very happy that all those folks have paid vacation days. But look what’s happening in this city, look what’s happening in this country, that some of the hardest working people, some of the folks who get the least compensation don’t have a single paid day off in the year.

So, I say to everyone – if you wouldn’t want it to be something missing in your life, if you can’t imagine what it’d it be like to not have a single paid day off in a year, if you think two weeks paid vacation makes sense in your life, it should make sense in Maurina’s life, it should make sense in every working person’s life.

[Applause]

So, we’re now going to take questions from the media on this topic, on paid time off, and then we’ll talk about other topics after. Yes, Sally –

Question: Mayor, Jumaane Williams first introduced this bill in 2014 when he was a City Council member. I’m just wondering if it’s so important, why has it taken five years to get to this point?

Mayor: Sally, this is a question, all the time that people ask in the media and I understand the question but I want to put things in perspective. We, in government, we have to move a whole larger agenda. In the beginning we had a central focus on things like Paid Sick Leave. We had a central focus on raising the minimum wage to $15 an hour. There were a lot of things we had to do for working people. Pre-K for all the children of working people, after-school for free – there were so many pieces of the agenda we had to move. And one of the things that is a real dynamic in government is you can – you move an aggressive agenda but you still have to sequence that agenda.

This is now – having gotten all those other powerful changes and reforms, it was time to move to this. And I want to thank the Public Advocate because he was ahead of his time and he provided leadership and this was an issue wasn’t on the radar and Jumaane Williams helped put it on the radar. And let’s thank him for that –

[Applause]

Question: [Inaudible] anything to do with you running for president because you’ve been using this on the campaign trail –

Mayor: Again, look at the sequence. You guys have seen the whole trajectory. We started the first year with Paid Sick Leave, we moved on to the $15 minimum wage – all the other pieces that have been about supporting working people. This made sense to do now after all those other pieces were complete. That’s why we’re doing it. Yes?

Question: So, who does this apply to exactly? I mean you have union workers here who I would think contracts provide paid time off. So, how does this work and who does it apply to?

Mayor: So, I’m going to, in a second, turn to Commissioner Salas and to Liz Vladeck to talk about the details of who is reached. But I want to make a point about why union members are here – because they’re fighting for working people. They’re fighting for all working people.

[Applause]

And this is something that, to all the unions represented here, they don’t think it’s okay if someone has a benefit and no one else has it, right. They don’t think it’s okay if a lot of workers are left out because that makes it bad for everyone. So, one of the things that distinguishes the labor movement in New York City is all for one and one for all.

[Applause]

Commissioner Lorelei Salas, Department of Consumer Affairs: Thank you, Mayor. I just want to say, because I have a minute, that this is the reason why I came to work for New York City. I am so touched and so humbled by what we’re doing together. In any case, this law is meant to cover one million New Yorkers that do not currently have any paid personal time off under any collective bargaining agreements, or people who work for the City – because as we work in the City we already have entitlements to paid time off, right. So, one million New Yorkers who don’t have the leave. I would also venture to say that there are a number of workers not under CBAs but workers who went into employment because they were promised this leave, who are not currently getting it because they’re nothing [inaudible] across all industries from a nanny who’s been working for years for a family to retail workers to restaurant workers, construction workers, everyone, everyone.

Question: [Inaudible] union employees, construction workers –

Commissioner Salas: Like I said, for – the one million number does not include workers who already are covered by collective bargaining agreements, right. If those CBAs actually include comparable benefits they are not going to have to do – not make any changes to their contracts. They are already covered.

Mayor: By the way – stay here a second. So, let me just pick up on this. The – first of all, in construction, there is a huge number of non-union workers. In retail, huge number of non-union workers. In fast food, overwhelmingly, non-union workers. I mean there’s a lot of sectors – even in the biggest union town in America, there’s still a lot of workers who do not have the protection of labor union membership. And this legislation is going to reach full-time workers, part-time workers. They do have to take steps to qualify. And Commissioner, I think you should lay that out so everyone understands what’s the qualifying level of work that gets you there. But I want to tell you, that one million number is very sobering because it’s a reminder of just how many people do not have union membership and don’t even have basic rights at the workplace.

Commissioner Salas: So, just quickly, as the Mayor mentioned – part-time workers, full-time workers, they all would be covered by this law. Obviously, part-time workers would accrue at a slower rate but there are plenty of workers, I have to say, who are working up to 72 hours a week. So, those workers will tend to accrue at a higher rate.

Mayor: Hector, do you want to add?

President Hector Figueroa, 32BJ SEIU: Yes. I just wanted to add that very often we forget that three out of four workers in New York don’t have a union. They don’t have a union protection and that in order for us to win some demands like paid sick days, paid leave, paid vacations, and minimum wage you have to create a level playing field for their employers. So, instead of having an employer being put at a disadvantage for offering things that the workers need in the competitive [inaudible] that they’re adding in other sectors, you create the rules under which they compete.

And our union has been quite consistent for the last 20 years that we cannot hold onto the benefits and the gains that we have under our collective bargaining agreements if the rest of the labor market – those three out of four workers – don’t have the same things that we win through the unions. So, this is vital for all workers to have.

[Applause]

Mayor: And one other point to make. I talked earlier about the fact that there is an agenda at play here. One of the elements of that agenda – and you’ve seen it at the federal level now for decades is undercutting the rights of organized labor. Compared to 30 years ago, unions are constantly diminished and attacked from the federal level. It used to be, in the age of Franklin Roosevelt, that labor was supported by the federal government, that people who wanted to join a union had a lot of ability to do so. Now, the barriers to a union forming, the barriers to organizing, the barriers to workers joining a union get higher and higher all the time, wages kept getting pushed down. We have seen in this country over decades a race to the bottom for working people that’s part of a federal agenda on behalf of big corporations.

This, what we’re doing here, creates a race to the top. Push those benefits up. Push those rights for workers up and everyone benefits.

[Applause]

Question: How in the world do you enforce this? I mean, when someone is just working for a family, they might still be fearful to ask for that vacation time. What happens? What’s the mechanism?

Mayor: It’s a very good question, and I’ll again turn to Lorelei and Liz. But I want to say this – it is the very fact that someone may be fearful to request that which is their right which is why we need this law, why we need to publicize to all employers that this will the law of New York City and that there are consequences for not following the law. Do not forget the public education occurs, when the City Council and when I sign law and when we send a message that this is now – these are the rules of the game, it has a big impact. So, Lorelei, you want to speak to how we would do enforcement?

Commissioner Salas: Yes. We work very closely with the National Domestic Workers Alliance to make sure that our message to workers is coming loud and clear. We will enforce this law like we do all the laws that are currently in the books that my agency enforces with Paid Safe and Sick Leave, with protections for freelance workers. And we do that all the time taking into account the fears that the workers have about potentially having retaliatory action by their employers. So, we’re very conscious of that and like I said we’ll very closely to make sure there’s enough education for workers and employers so they know their obligations. Let’s not dismiss the fact there are a lot of employers out there who want to do the right thing, right, and they want to be in compliance with the laws. And so, we will do our best to make sure that the message comes across to both workers and employers.

[Applause]

Question: [Inaudible]

Commissioner Salas: Well, the penalties range between – I think it’s about $500 for the first time violation, $750 for a second time violation, up to $1,000. Again, this is not about collecting fines, this is about changing the industry, making sure that we raise the standards. That’s what we want. We don’t want to be around collecting fines, we want the workers to have access to the benefit.

[Applause]

Question: Your presidential campaign slogan is working people first and you literally repeated that line as well as a lot of elements that you repeated on the campaign trail, specifically the story about your family early on. What would you say to someone that this is a taxpayer-funded campaign rally?

Mayor: Anna, let’s be real. This is a – there is a hearing about to begin on a piece of legislation that is a priority for me as mayor, it’s a priority for the Public Advocate, it’s a priority for members of the City Council. We are calling to the people of New York City to say support this legislation so we can get it done. That’s why we are here.

Question: But just a follow up, why repeat elements of your stump speech?

Mayor: Because I believe it.

Question: Following up on Sally’s question [inaudible] earlier – this was first introduced in 2014, paid sick days was passed in 2014, why not just pass both of those [inaudible]

Mayor: Again you have to focus on an agenda and development of an agenda. You can’t pass everything at once. We decided on what thought was most necessary to do in sequence. It’s as simple as that.

Question: So from that can we interpret that this is not as important as some of the other [inaudible].

Mayor: It’s fair to say that in 2013 and 2014 there was a tremendous focus in the city in getting paid sick leave done. It’s fair to say there was a tremendous focus on getting Pre-K For All done. Thereafter getting $15 minimum wage, I just – I respect the question but I don’t think it reflects the reality of being in public service. I think if we could do everything simultaneously we would love to. The reality is to mount the efforts and you’ll remember we did mandatory inclusionary housing and a whole host of things. These were all huge efforts to get them done. They took a lot of time and energy, each one was part of a larger plan to help working people. This was the next thing and it was ready to go. It’s as simple as that. Yes.

Question: Going off of Anna’s question. This is not necessarily the first time we’ve heard you – or sort of it appears you blend politics and government. For instances the Trump Tower presser, you definitely repeated parts of your stuff that we just heard this weekend. Do you think you are blending government and politics?

Mayor: I am speaking from the heart about what I believe and I have been in elections before and I’ve been in public service before. I don’t think that that’s the way to think about it. If you are talking about the issues, you are talking about working people, you are talking about what you believe, it doesn’t matter if you are at a public event, a government event, a political event, saying the same thing everywhere. Okay any other questions on this, yes?

Question: Oh me?

Mayor: Yes.

Question: So the other question I had – this is about paid vacation and a lot of people who have been helping out your presidential campaign have been using their vacation time to help you run for president. I mean can you speak a little about that? Do you think that that’s fair to ask people?

Mayor: We are not asking anyone. We are not asking anyone. People are making their own choice.

Question: Question for the Public Advocate. Two weeks ago you were critical of the Mayor and you said you didn’t believe he had both eyes on being Mayor of New York City. Is his appearance at this event reassure you? Do you feel better about his presidential run now two weeks later?

Public Advocate Jumaane Williams: That’s a hell of a question man, you just put a lot of stuff in there.

[Laughter]

Mayor: Well I want – look in my eyes, look in my eyes.

[Laughter]

Public Advocate Williams: Look, I know, we have a discussion on different topics. I’m excited today to be here to talk about paid personal time off and I am excited that the Mayor is backing it and it seems like there is an appetite in the Council. So I just want to get it done. And as I said when I got elected, I want to work with the Mayor wherever possible to move this city forward. I’m going to work with whomever.

Question: But are you reassured by his focus on this issue that he can do two things as once?

Public Advocate Williams: I’m reassured. In a couple weeks or a couple months we are going to have paid personal time, I’m excited about that.

[Applause]

Question: I just want to ask about the current state of affairs for city workers. My understanding is there are certainly some per diem workers in the DOE, I know hearing officers that are owe – that are capped at 20 hours per week. They don’t earn vacation time. I guess, what can you say about – you know do all city workers currently get some kind of paid leave and if not is this legislation going to correct that?

Mayor: Okay, let me first say, I think there has been some assumptions about the per diem workers that were not accurate. So if you are asking to get the whole explanation of what happens with our per diem workers, what the real compensation is, we will get that to you today. In the question of whether a per diem workers for the city is covered by this? Do you know answer now, we can say it now or else we will get back. We will get back to you later on. Yes?

Question: Mr. Mayor if you are elected president how much vacation time would you commit to taking?

[Laughter]

Mayor: I don’t think you really get a vacation with that job so. Yes?

Question: This question is actually for Gloria Steinem. Since you’re here, are you going to endorse Mayor Bill de Blasio for president?

Gloria Steinem: He is among my top choices.

Mayor: Can you say that to the microphone, because they want to hear that.

[Laughter]

They actually do want to hear it on the microphone. Whatever you say, whatever you say they need to hear for their purposes.

Steinem: Mayor de Blasio is among my top four choices for president, and the only male human being who is on that list.

[Applause]

Mayor: That is a beautiful thing, thank you.

Question: [Inaudible] the other three?

Steinem: I’d rather not [inaudible].

Mayor: Wait for her op-ed.

Steinem: [Inaudible]

[Laughter]

Mayor: Okay, on this topic? I want to see if there’s any other questions on paid time off? Going once – oh, yeah?

Question: Do you know what the state of affairs is for contract workers?

Mayor: Say again now?

Question: Contract workers.

Mayor: Contract workers. That’s a broad category. Can you speak to that, Lorelei?

Commissioner Salas: I guess – if you’re referring to freelance workers, I’m not really sure who the universe is, but if you are an employee of an employer in New York City you are entitled to that leave. If you are freelancer, that doesn’t include you in this particular legislation.

Mayor: Okay. Last call on paid time off questions. Last call going once, twice. Okay, we’re going to take other topics.

[Applause]

Alright, thank you everybody.

Okay, other topics. Yes?

Question: The City Board of Elections has not yet accepted the money that you offered them for early polling places. What are you going to do about that? Is there anything else the city can do? Is this just posturing on your part?

Mayor: Look today, the City Board of Elections is supposed to come out with an answer on whether they’re really going to do early voting the right way, and we have – I want to be clear, I have offered them $75 million to do 100-plus early voting sites in New York City, and they still have not accepted that money. They said they were having trouble figuring out which sites would work. We gave them a list of over 200 hundred sites. Today, they were supposed to make an announcement. The only acceptable announcement is to have at least 100 early voting sites. If they do not do that, we will consider all options possible to make them create an early voting program that actually works for everyday New Yorkers, and we’ll certainly consider legal action among those potential steps. Andrew?

Question: What can you tell us about Amazon coming back to New York? Two towers near Penn Station? Are you involved in those talks, and how close is it?

Mayor: No, look – if Amazon decides as Google did and as many other tech firms have that they are going to expand their presence in New York City, that’s their choice. I have not had any discussions with them. You know, we are very jaded now after having made a full agreement that I thought was a fair agreement then they just walked away from it in the dead of night. So, they have not spoken to me, they have not reached out to me, but if they do something on their own and it adds jobs, well that’s fine then. Marcia?

Question: Mr. Mayor, you have a plan that’s going to ease bail [inaudible] for teenagers. When it comes up [inaudible] I mentioned, the Police Commissioner has an op-ed piece saying he’s opposed to some of these things because it doesn’t take into consideration things like prior arrests [inaudible] gravity of the effect. So I wonder how you feel about that?

Mayor: So, Marcia – no, we’re absolutely in the same place. Marcia, first of all, we’ve had so many people who languished in jail because they couldn’t afford bail, and that was unfair – unfair to them, unfair to their families, unfair to the people in New York City, because we had mass incarceration that was harmful to our whole society, harmful to taxpayers – it didn’t need to be that way. So we’re insuring that there are real alternatives to incarceration, particularly for our youngest New Yorkers who we need to focus on them getting them on the right track. We need to support them, we need to make sure that they are being redeemed, not just locked up. But I want to tell you something, I have advocated, very publicly, in Albany for adding to law the ability of judges to determine if there is a dangerousness reality with a suspect and whether that suspect should be held because they create a threat to the community. That’s something that Albany still should do. I agree with the Police Commissioner on that. That needs to be done before this legislative session is over.

Question: Does it make the appearance of speaking on both sides—

Mayor: No, it’s exactly what I’ve spoken about from the beginning of this legislative session. There are so many people who are not a threat, who should not be held. There are so many people who are not a threat, who should not be held simply because they can't afford the bail. And there are other people could be a threat – right now, our judges in New York State don't have the ability to make a decision based on that standard of dangerousness. That needs to be added to the law, I’ve said that from the beginning. 

Yes? Just – let’s get that first.

Question: As of last week, there were about 122 people who [inaudible] violating the health emergency order. So, two questions – are they paying those fines? And two, is there any guarantee that they're going to get vaccinated and just pay –

Mayor: Look, what we've said is when we're providing those violations, we want to fix the problem first. If someone goes and gets vaccinated, they may not end up paying that fine. Some people have paid the fine, but the real goal is to address this crisis and turn it around. In the last days we've seen real progress and I do think the measles crisis is leveling off and I'm hopeful about where it's going. 

Question: [Inaudible]

Mayor: It’s a small number, but we'll get it to you. But again, the most important thing is that people get vaccinated. If they do that, there's a good chance they're not paying that fine.

Question: Mr. Mayor, back to your new guidelines from your Office of Criminal Justice. There's some concerns about maintaining an independent judiciary. How will you ensure that judges don't feel pressure to adopt the guidelines or lose their jobs? 

Mayor: Oh no, no – judges are going to make their own decisions. We're providing them an option. They're going to decide what makes sense. 

All right. Let's go, who hasn’t gone yet? Go ahead.

Question: Mr. Mayor, were you surprised to hear that Amazon was coming into the city again? And have you had any discussions with the Governor about it?

Mayor: I have not spoken to Amazon. I have not spoken to the Governor. I think it makes sense that any major tech company needs to have a presence in New York City. We've become now the second most important tech hub in America, and we're growing all the time. And so it doesn't surprise me at all, but, again, they're going to have to do it on their own.

Question: [Inaudible]

Mayor: I don’t know [inaudible]. Go ahead, Marcia. 

Question: [Inaudible]

Mayor: Okay, I have not seen the report, but let me speak to the bigger issue. When I came into office, what I heard from a lot of police officers was that they felt that there was a very arbitrary process, that punishment was meted out in ways that weren't consistent, that there was a punitive environment that dominated in the previous administration, and it really chilled the ability officers to feel that they could get out and serve people and have a relationship with the community. And what we did from the beginning – we said we're going to retrain all our officers, focus on neighborhood policing, focus on developing relationship with the community, and then have discipline become more consistent. One of the things I think that the Blue Ribbon Panel really focused on was creating transparent, consistent standards that then were applied evenly. That's what we're in the process of doing now.

Question: [Inaudible] what are some of the options that the City can follow-up [inaudible] –

Mayor: As I said, we're going to look at any and all legislative options, legal options. But the number-one thing is, if we're giving them $75 million and we're showing them where the poll sites are, and we're saying to them, just make it easier for people to vote, because we all know what happens on Election Day in New York City. It's been a mess for years. So make it easier for people by really opening up the doors for early voting. Make it truly accessible, we’ll pay for it. If they don't say yes to that, I think there'll be tremendous anger in this city toward the Board of Elections and we'll use every tool at our disposal to make them do it.

Question: [Inaudible] presidential campaign release a list of [inaudible] staffers [inaudible] –

Mayor: You’ll have to talk to the campaign about that.

Question: [Inaudible] judges from your Office of Criminal Justice – you know, the changing the guidelines [inaudible] convicted of assault, which is concerning for some people. [Inaudible]?

Mayor: We need to add that standard of dangerousness. I said it in my testimony in Albany in February. It's something I – you know, I name judges, and judges – people who are applying to become judges, folks who have been sitting judges talk to me regularly about the fact that they need that standard. It wouldn't be used in many cases, I don't think. But in the cases that it's needed for, judges must have that freedom to act. It can come with clear guidelines and rules. We've talked to the Legislature about making sure it is not arbitrary, but it's based on very specific rules. But I think we need that standard. 

Let’s see if there’s anything else – yes? 

Question: So, getting back to that – so, what programs are in place what would you put in place to deal with repeat offenders who are released on bail?

Mayor: So, look at what's happening – look what's happening so far. I think the best example here is what's happening in New York City right now. Mass incarceration is down 30 percent since we took office – 30 percent fewer people in jail. Arrests in 2018, 150,000 fewer arrests than in 2013. So mass incarceration down, arrests down, and the City is getting consistently safer. So, it proves that there are ways of keeping people safe that are not the traditional mistaken ways where lots of people got locked up for the wrong reasons, for minor offenses, or got kept in jail because they couldn't afford bail – that was broken. We have increasingly used alternatives to incarceration and they're working, and you can tell they're working because the City has gotten safer five years in a row. So, we're going to keep working on those, particularly with young people. Young people, instead of giving up on them and leaving them incarcerated, which is only going to harden them and make their lives worse. We're trying to educate them, rehabilitate them, help them on the right path, and that is the whole concept of Raise the Age, which was decided by the legislators in Albany – to stop treating young people as adults. Young people can be redeemed and we've proven it. We're going to be doing a lot more of that.

Question: [Inaudible] this 22-year-old man who was pulling the emergency brake, and he’s had 17 and prior arrests and he was just arrested –

Mayor: Yeah, look there are obviously cases – I don't think we should make our laws and rules based on the real exceptional cases. That's someone who is a repeat offender if ever there was one. That's a different kind of case. But we're talking about the folks who have done lesser offenses who do not have that kind of history, who we can act on and do something to help.

Question: There was an analysis commissioned by the state and of the special-ed complaint system in New York City and expressed a lot of concern about the fact that complaints are going up – 51 percent over the past few years. There’s not enough hearing officers, not enough space. I just want to hear what the City is doing to address that.

Mayor: No, these are real issues and what the City is doing is committing a huge amount of resources and personnel to addressing the needs of special-ed kids and their parents. One of the things we've talked about for years, and you saw it in both budget presentations, is that for a long time parents were kept from the services their kids needed and forced to go through a very cumbersome legal process and expensive legal process, and we made a decision as an administration to stop that, to make it easier for parents to get the special-ed services their kids need. As a result of that, a lot more people coming forward, a lot of folks who needed the help before, but they just felt they couldn't navigate the system. So, it is leading to an increase in demand and we understand that we now need to keep up with that with more personnel, with more resources. That's what we're focused on. 

Last call – Marcia.

Question: [Inaudible] 

Mayor: Marcia –

Question: [Inaudible] add more boats.

Mayor: We’ve actually added a lot of boats, Marcia. And what I've seen is, throughout the year, the ferry service has been working better and better. It's hugely popular. The challenge we have is on those big holiday weekend’s – Labor Day, Memorial Day – where they're particularly popular. We put everything we had out there, there was still more demand. But if you look at this from a 365 day a year perspective, the ferry service is working, it's gaining popularity, and the day I'm looking forward to Marsha is when we work with the MTA so that we can have a single fare to get you from the ferry, to the bus, to the subway, or vice versa, and then you're going to see ferry ridership go up even more. 

Thanks, everybody.